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Engineering grads receive top salary offers; CU-Boulder students high on employers' lists

By Brittany Anas Camera Staff Writer

Posted:
10/11/2010 09:33:40 PM MDT

Updated:
10/11/2010 11:29:10 PM MDT

Tristina DeWitt, left, and Samantha Kelly, both senior mechanical engineering majors, work in the Integrated Teaching and Learning Laboratory at the University of Colorado on Monday.
(
SAM HALL
)

Top-paid majors for 2009-10

Petroleum engineering, $77,278

Chemical engineering, $64,889

Mining and mineral engineering, including geological, $63,207

Computer science, $60,473

Computer engineering, $60,396

Electrical/electronics and communications engineering, $59,512

Aerospace/aeronautical/astronautical engineering $58,208

Mechanical engineering, $58,110

Industrial/manufacturing engineering, $57,396

Systems engineering, $56,953

Source: National Association of Colleges and Employers

It was a tossup between art and engineering when Scott Byers was weighing disciplines and choosing a master's program.

Earning potential tipped him toward engineering.

A new report from the National Association of Colleges and Employers shows that engineering graduates command the highest starting salary offers. In fact, engineers claimed nine out of the top 10 slots, led by petroleum engineering students who enjoy an average starting offer of $77,278.

The only non-engineering major on the list was computer science, which had the fourth-highest offer at $60,473. At the University of Colorado, the computer science department is housed in the College of Engineering and Applied Science.

Byers, a master's student in CU's engineering college, said he's interested in tissue engineering. He said he's not surprised that engineering graduates are rewarded with the top-paying jobs.

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"They are the hardest degrees to get," said Byers, who on Monday morning said he had stayed up all night long studying for a biochemistry course.

Last week, at CU's Career Fair, 117 of the 156 companies that set up booths were at least partly looking for engineering majors, said Lisa Severy, director of Career Services. Forty-seven companies were exclusively recruiting engineering majors.

"The College of Engineering and Applied Science at CU-Boulder has an international reputation for excellence, making it a prime recruiting target," Severy said.

She said she's spoken with some representatives in the last few years who have said that even when their companies have scaled back the number of schools they visit, the Boulder campus remains on their list because it produces strong candidates.

According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, the employers hiring the most college graduates were in accounting, retail and wholesale trade, financial services, engineering and educational services.

Andrea Koncz, with the association, said engineers traditionally take up at least eight slots in the Top 10 when it comes to highest starting salary offers.

Engineering freshman Amy Le said she's also considering medicine as a career. She said it's not so much money that motivates her as an engineering student, but the challenge of math and science.

She admits she puts in a lot of studying hours.

"I practically live here," she said in the engineering building Monday.

Briana Dodson, a freshman enrolled in the engineering college, said the potential for high salary offers is her primary motivator. Her father owns an oil and gas firm, she said, and prior to arriving at CU, she already had completed three internships. Her internship last summer was in the renewable-energy field.

She said she wants to own a horse, play polo and travel upon graduation and recognizes that she'll need to have a high-paying job to afford her hobbies.

"We work really hard," she said of engineering students. "And that opens a lot of doorways."

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